1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity
3. catholicism

St John the Baptist Parish Newsletter
Parish Office: Sacred Heart Church, Silver Link Rd,
Tamworth, B77 2EA
Parish Office: 01827 769403
Parish Centre Bookings: 01827 288226
Priests: Fr Michael – [email protected]
Fr Noel – [email protected]
Centre Bookings: Rev Deacon Brian Cox and Mrs Nora Cox – [email protected] Tel. 288226
Admin: Wendy Quinn – [email protected]
Gift Aid, HOT, database (Tues & Wed): Rob Breeden – [email protected]
www.stjohnrctamworth.org.uk
St John’s Church in on St John St, Tamworth, B79 7EX
First Sunday of Lent (B) – 22nd February 2015
Psalm Response: Your ways Lord, are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant
Saturday 21st February
Sat after Ash Wed
First Sunday of Lent
10.30am (S.J.)
Jim & Tilly Moran
6.00pm (S.J.)
Kevin Miller – Sarah White
Sunday 22nd February
9.00 am (S.H.)
John Spencer – Megan O’Connor
Ray Howard – Michael Bolger
First Sunday of Lent 10.30 am (S.J.)
12.00 noon (S.H.) Mary Gillen – Bob Liversidge
Monday 23rd February
Lent feria 10.00 am (S.J.)
Janie Power
th
Tuesday 24 February
Lent feria 7.00am (S.J.)
Kath Wakelin
11.00 am (S.J.)
Sarah White
th
Wednesday 25 February
Lent feria 10.00 am (S.J.)
Leon Spicer
Thursday 26th February
Lent feria 7.00am (S.H.)
Sarah White
10.00am (S.J.)
John O’Connor
Friday 27th February
Lent feria 9.15am (S..)
Christy Crowley
12.30pm
(S.J.)
Mass for the sick and housebound of the parish
CAFOD Lent Fast Day
7.00pm (S.H.)
Stations of the Cross
th
Saturday 28 February Lent feria
10.30am (S.J.)
Betty Creed
Second Sunday of Lent 6.00pm (S.J.)
The O’Dwyer family – Hughie McKenny
st
Sunday 1 March
9.00 am (S.H.)
Patrick Lineham & Nora Brown – Thanksgiving
David Munro – Kath Wakelin
Second Sunday of Lent 10.30 am (S.J.)
12.00 noon (S.H.) Mick Bradley – John Paul Brogan
Confessions at St John’s: Sat 11.00 till 11.30 am and 5.15 – 5.45 pm.
Please pray for the sick: Mick Evans, Chad Williams, Steve Brindley, Finn Lynch,
Teresa Woodcock, Gill Horsley, Margaret Thompson, Phil Crook, Keith Waterhouse, Mary
Pullen, Kit Liversidge, Patrick O’Hara, Maggie Gordan, Noreen Doherty, Christine Lavery,
Michelle Mason, Julie Orme, Nikolas Atkins, Sheila Brown, Stephen Morley, Jaden
Walker, Frank Ryan, Elsie Newbold, Gillian & John Solanky, Edna Mundin, John Barrass,
June Beggan, Michael Fox, Betty Meehan, Mary Miller, Sarah Gillen, Conan Teyssou,
Winnie Claridge, Ann-Marie Purslow, Eileen and Vincent Murphy, Janine & Philip Nolan,
Margaret Fenn, Ann Bernes, Teresa Weir, Morag Deighton, Joan Trevis, Linda Winwood,
Nellie Mattison.
Reflection: Jesus was tempted by Satan……….Temptation is a very real part
of life. It is especially challenging in our weaker times, Satan loves to kick us
when we’re down. when we are down, discouraged, afraid, disappointed and
lonely. It can be during the times when we down, discouraged, afraid that we can
be tempted to stray from our values. The challenge we have is to walk through
the pain and darkness…to persevere and to take the road less travelled. Let us
pray that during Lent we are given the strength to rise to meet the challenges
head on and persevere in doing what’s right, in being faithful to God, in trusting
God, in listening to God, and in loving others as God loves us.
Please pray for those whose anniversaries occur around this time: Catherine Hemming, Mary Pegg,
John Smith, Flora Hinds, Joseph Gilbert, Robert Cuffe, Jim Doherty, Doreen Bolger, Margaret Dunlop, Francis
Sharratt, John Harvey, Arthur Louch, Norman Wilkins, William McDonnell, Margaret Wakelin, Albert Upton,
John Duke, Elizabeth Killigrew, John Kerrigan, Doris Blower, Lilian Adams, Jean Boyce, Nora Hawkins, Irene
Rollinson, Peter Doherty, Ronald Hopkins, Baby Anne Standen, James Heathfield, Frederick Doody,Margaret
Abraitis, Eve Ritchie, Frank Parton, Anne Nicholson, Sidney Davis, Doris McCurley-Smith, Raymond Dauncey,
Stanley Williams, James Wyatt, Susan Crowley, Ronald Henson, Dora Henson, Charles O’Neill, Norman
Adams, Terence Archer, Margaret McCarthy, Maureen Holland, Eileen Miller, Henryk Stawski, Noran Court, Ivy
Lee, Margaret Kennedy, Doreen Perason, Susan Firkins, George Elliot, James Jackson, Terence Spooner, John
Boyce, Jeffrey Groves, Cedric Brownsword, Kevin Keegan.
Lent: Our personal daily prayer should be our starting point – so please use the Walk with Me booklets
(these are available again this weekend). Here are other opportunities to respond to God’s call to prayer,
fasting and giving alms in Lent:
1. Soup: Again we would like to offer a Fast Day lunch each Friday after 12.30 Mass. Our generous
donations can make a real difference to the work of CAFOD but it also links our fasting into
helping the poor. Please join us: Mass at 12.30 Soup at 1.00.
2. Early Morning Masses throughout Lent continues throughout
Lent Tuesdays at St John’s, Thursdays Sacred Heart, both at 7am.
Attending these Masses is a great opportunity for quiet prayer
before the rush of the day begins. We also have Masses each
morning at St John’s at 10.00 or 11.00 or 10.30 am.
3. Retreat Day for anyone engaged or interested in social action.
This should be a great spiritual day taking place at Oscott College
on Saturday March 21st from 10.30 till 4.30. An amazing venue
and just 10 miles up the road (lifts could be arranged). See poster in Church. Cost is just £10
and you can book by going to www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk, then log on to caritas for booking
form. It is being led by David McLoughlin who has spoken in our Church.
If you need a lift, please contact the parish office.
4. Open Day: In Saint Joseph's Convent, Haunton on Wednesday 4th March from 10am to 4pm.
Come and spend time in our convent for prayer in front of the blessed Sacrament with occasional
times for guided prayer. Meet and talk with the sisters even though we are few! This day is in
honour of the year dedicated to Religious Life which began in November 2015.
5. Live Simply this Lent: The Live Simply group have produced a calendar for parishioners to use
during Lent. This can be used to help you to follow your Lenten Journey. The calendars will be
shared out after mass. “Live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.”
6. CAFOD: Donate to our Lent appeal between Ash Wednesday (18
February) and Sunday 17 May 2015, and the UK government will
match what you give, £1 for £1*. And if you set up a direct debit, your
first three months will be matched! www.cafod.org.uk/Give/Lent
7. The internet can help! 40 days of giving back, doing good and living
generously. It is an online resource with lots of great ideas on how to
make the most of Lent. 10’s of thousands of people are doing it. Just
log on to: www.40acts.org.uk and give it a try.
Today’s Live Simply prayer: For poor communities, those most vulnerable to the effects of climate
change: that we keep them close to our hearts. Lord hear us
CAFOD Collection Next Sunday: This Friday is designated as a
day of fasting. It links our fasting from food with the hunger of
millions of people in our world. We are asked to put the money we
save towards a collection for CAFOD.
Please take a CAFOD
envelope. If you pay tax please complete the form so that they
can claim the tax back on your donation.
And the wonderful news - from today your gifts to our Lent Appeal
can be doubled by the UK government! That means your efforts
this Lent - perhaps cutting out coffee, bringing out your bicycle, or
taking up baking - will be worth double, at no extra cost to you.
Fancy a Treat? Come and join us for Afternoon Tea at Sacred Heart Centre on
Sunday 8th March, 2.30pm – 5pm with musical entertainment. £10 adults £7
children. For more information or to purchase tickets please contact the parish
office. Tickets are also available at the back of the Church – a top Tea for a great
price. All proceeds to parish funds.
Can you help? Have you got any china cups, saucers, tea pot and cake stands we
can borrow for our afternoon teas? Please contact the parish office if you can help.
Cultural Evening: some of the loveliest events in recent
years have centred on having a cultural evening. People
have asked about organising one so we are calling a meeting for Tues 24th Feb
at 7.00 pm at Sacred Heart.
It is open to anyone interested in their culture
being celebrated in food, music, costume etc
At our last event we had
representation from India, the Philippines, Germany, Ireland, Ghana, Italy,
Scotland, Wales, England, Mexico, Poland and other nations. It was a great
evening thanks to the number of people involved. Please involve yourself in this
one too.
YOSH –will meet on Thursday 26th February Parents and young member of
YOSH, this is a chance to enter a Religious Poem Competition which could
earn £250 for the parish. The poem can be a prayer, words for a hymn, a
description of an uplifting moment, a religious experience, about a person or
your church. It can be rhyming or free verse, historic, romantic, factual, or
personal - on a religious theme. Poems, of no more than 25 lines (including
blank lines) and 160 words can be emailed to YOSH leader Stephen,
[email protected] by the 24th February 2015.
This spring Traidcraft are promoting the Big Brew! People are being encouraged
to raise money through holding tea and coffee events using Fairtrade goods,
including cakes and biscuits. The Big Brew events in our parish will be on the
following days:
Sunday 1st March at Sacred Heart, after 9am mass. This will include an
opportunity to decorate your own cup cake!
Sunday 8th March at St John’s, after 10:30 mass. This will include a cake
raffle.
Join us for a cuppa after mass and help farmers grow more, earn more and eat more.!
All monies raised at these events will be doubled by the government!
Easter Vigil Choir – There will be practices on Wednesday at 7.30pm at the Sacred Heart Church
starting this Wednesday, 25th February. Everyone is welcome.
Date for St Gabriel’s year 6 pupils – Year 6 Leavers Prom will be held in Sacred Heart on the 18th July
2015 6pm – 9pm. Just to confirm that the prom is to be held at the Sacred Heart on 18th July 2015 at
6pm until 9pm. We will have a VIP red carpet entrance, Disco with DJ, Surf Machine, Bungee
Run, Racing Simulators, Signature Wall (in which the name of the winner will be drawn from a
hat), Group Photographs, and Buffet Meal/Drinks. For more information please contact Michelle Collins
[email protected] 07870748405
Sacred Heart Flower Ladies - Meet every Friday morning and really enjoy making
the church look good with our efforts, it’s nice to hear the positive feedback from
time to time.
Please remember that we can do flower stands for special occasions, memorials for
anniversaries of those who have died, births, birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc.
Just give us a few weeks’ notice before the required date and tell us what sort of
flowers you would like. A suggested donation of £10 -15 per stand depending on the
time of year and the availability of the flowers requested. You can ask any of the
flower ladies or phone Val on 893808 or Brenda on 65651.
UCM everything Irish evening - Wednesday 4 March at 8:00 pm in Sacred Heart Centre. 'A warm
welcome is extended to all to come along to the UCM Irish evening. We hope to entertain you with some
Irish music, Irish dancing, Irish food and Irish drinks. For those willing and able there will also be the
opportunity to get on your toes and jig along. An eminent Irish dance teacher will be in attendance to
teach us how to do it. So bring along those dancing shoes. Cost per entrant £2.
UCM Date for your diary - AGM with Mass, 8th of April at 7:30pm
The Parish AGM this year will be at Sacred Heart on Sunday April 19th at 1.00. We will provide soup
and a sandwich. As usual, we will be producing an annual report for 2014. This should be ready by the
end of February with an opportunity to write questions in advance of the meeting.
Developing St John’s Church and Meeting Facilities: Last weekend we
showed some images of how our Church can be developed later this year. This
has come about by the response to consultation that many were involved in
last year. This gave us some principles to which we have tried to work. These
include:
1. Making St John’s a vibrant centre of community activity for parishioners.
2. Developing facilities for the parish for luncheon clubs, meetings,
catechesis, youth work, teas/coffees after Mass, parents & toddlers etc
3. Working with other community groups, charities, with the bereaved,
people with learning disabilities, AA and other groups but
4. Making use of existing building rather than extending.
5. Not trying to duplicate facilities we have at Sacred Heart but rather to
complement what we have elsewhere.
If you haven’t already given in any constructive comments you wish to make, please put them on the
sheets provided. These comments are important and valuable to the steering committee.
Favourite Recipes - collection of favourite recipes from the Friends of St Michael’s and St James,
Haunton have been put into a book. We a small number to sell at just £3.25 each or £6 for 2. Everyone
we sell the parish will be given a donation of £1 per book.
World Youth Day Krakow – 19th July – 3rd August 2016
An opportunity for any young person in the parish who will be 18 years of age or
year 13 by the 19th July 2016. Come and find out more about this epic adventure!
Join other young Catholics from across out Diocese as we journey at the invitation
of the Holy Father to meet for the 31st World Youth Day in Krakow. To find out
more come to the information evening nearest to you. Dates and venues below:
Cardinal Newman School, Coventry – Monday 23rd February 7pm
The Grimshaw Room, St Chads Cathedral – Thursday 5th March 7pm.
Or down load an application form and information pack from www.bcys.co.uk
Starfish: Our Starfish ‘breakfast club’
takes place at Sacred Heart from 10am till 12.00 am.
Thanks to all our volunteers – more are welcome.
Multiple Sclerosis (M S) Society and Tai Chi – Meet on
a Tuesday at 11.30am in the Modwen room. The Tai Chi
class is open to anyone. The MS Society meets for their
meeting after the class at 12.30pm
Irish Dancing Classes now run from the parish centre
every Saturday. It is open to people of all ages. If you are
interested
then
contact
Katie
Martin
on
[email protected] or tel. 07932 359413
The Bridge Club are also keen to recruit new members – come and
play the King of card games on Monday evenings at 7.00 pm.
Pilates Classes – A set of exercise performed in standing, seated and
lying positions.
Pilates exercise
can be beneficial for everyone
whatever their fitness. Thursday 7pm – 8pm. £5 per session - pay as
you go.
Senior Citizens at Sacred Heart – Meet every Tuesday for social
gatherings at 1.30am.
A.A. meeting at St John’s upper room on Mondays at 8.00 pm for
people recovering from alcohol related problems.
Fortisip, a high energy/protein drink used by people who have been
unwell – we have some available if anyone could make use of it.
Please contact the office.
Registered Charity No 234216
Money Matters
Envelopes
182.42
Standing Order
650.00
Loose
458.59
Total:
£1291.10
2nd Collection
268.09